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Wednesday 10 March 2010

+ Reformer in Iran Publishes Account of a Prison Rape   MICHAEL SLACKMAN

+ Questions about Iran's Revolutionary Guards  report

+ Iranian election protests death toll is 69, says opposition  report

+ US will not congratulate 'elected' Ahmadinejad  report

+ Iran opposition to keep pressure on Ahmadinejad  Parisa Hafezi

+ Iran election protests: the dead, jailed and missing  report

+ 140 prisoners from Iran election crackdown freed   By NASSER KARIMI

+ U.S., Israel Divide on Iran Nuclear Program   By YOCHI J. DREAZEN

+ Friday prayers in Iran call on Ahmadinejad to sack his deputy   report

+ Global Views of U.S. Helped by Obama, Survey Says   BRIAN KNOWLTON

+ Despite Jewish Concerns, Obama Keeps Up Pressure on Israel  TONY KARON

+ Iran Executes 13 Sunni Rebels   report

+ France, Britain stand firmly on Iran  report

+ Ethnic Clashes in Western China Are Said to Kill Scores   Michael Wines

+ Newsweek urges Iran to release detained reporter  Report

+ Iran at 'front and center' of Obama trip  Report

+ Petition Calling for the Formation of UN Fact-Finding Committee for Iran  Report

+ Iran recount seen as bid to placate opposition  Report

+ Iraq Says It's Ready For Troop Withdrawal  Report

+ Rafsanjani wants ‘fair’ review of Iran vote complaints  Report

+ Iran detains some local staff at British Embassy  KARIN LAUB

+ OPEN LETTER TO MR. KHAMENEI AND HIS ALLIES  Anjoman Ayandeh (Association of Iranian Futurists)

+ Obama pressed to adopt tougher line over Iran  James Blitz

+ Iran’s Ruling Cleric Warns of Bloodshed if Protests Persist   Nazila Fathi

+ Huge pro-reform rally defies crackdown threats  ANNA JOHNSON and ALI AKBAR DAREINI

+ DECLARATION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF IRANIAN FUTURISTS  Anjoman ayandeh

+ Letter to President Obama  Anjoman Ayandeh

+ Militant’s release could bring freedom for 5 British hostages  By Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Robert H. Reid

+ Iran's Islamic guardians warn reformist wave  By ANNA JOHNSON

+ Lebanon confirms Hariri election win   Report

+ Voters steer Europe to the right   Report

+ France, US stand united on Iran, Mideast peace  JENNIFER LOVEN

+ In Iran, Ahmadinejad opponent sees surge of enthusiasm  Scott Peterson

+ Iran nuclear showdown at 'decisive point': Obama  Report

+ Israeli foreign minister to press Russians on Iran   Report

+ Fight over Cuba to dominate OAS meeting  MATTHEW LEE

+ Israel rejects US call over settlement work   report

+ Iraq needs "consensual democracy"  By Mohammad Al-Ghazi

+ US military chief hints at softer Iran stance  By Krishna Guha

+ How far will US support for Lebanon go?  Jim Muir

+ Pakistan army fights for key city   report

+ Bank of Japan upgrades assessment of economy  Report

+ Wave of violence in Iraq escalates  Report

+ Iran tests missile as election race starts  By Zahra Hosseinian and Fredrik Dahl Zahra Hosseinian And Fredrik Dahl

+ Netanyahu presses Congress over threat of nuclear Iran  Report

+ Updates on Iran  Dave Schuler

+ Obama Sees Iran Threat as Motivation for Israeli-Arab Agreement  Indira A.R. Lakshmanan and Jonathan Ferzige

+ Kuwait votes for first female MPs   Report

+ Al-Maliki: Iraq seeking to build good ties with regional neighboring states   Report

+ U.S. State Department Denies Deadline on Iran Talks  by Maayana Miskin

+ Three Iranian forces, five rebels killed in W Iran   Report

+ Pope visits Jerusalem holy sites   Report

+ Sri Lanka war zone hospital 'hit'   Report

+ Obama to address Muslims in Egypt   Report

+ Chavez seizes oil service firms   Report

+ Conservative rival raps Iran president on economy  Report

+ US troops in Afghanistan won't be sent to Pakistan  By LARA JAKES

+ Unsatisfied EU extends Myanmar sanctions  Report

+ Georgian troop rebellion 'over'   Report

+ Iraq insists on US leaving cities by June 30   ROBERT H. REID

+ Iran strikes northern Iraqi villages   Report

+ UN: Freeze Jerusalem demolitions   Report

+ Iran: The world"s second biggest sponsor of capital punishment  Neil Durkin

+ Robert Gates: bombing Iran would not stop nuclear threat   David Blair

+ Mexico's epidemiology boss faults WHO  Andrew O. Selsky

+ Peres: Bombing Iran may not be the 'best solution'   Report

+ Baghdad bombs leave 41 dead  Ernesto Londono

+ EU, China urged to enhance cooperation against global financial crisis   Mu Xuequan

+ Congress looks to bolster Iran sanctions   MATTHEW LEE

+ Iran should act to back two-state solution: US  AFP

+ Libya blocks US bid for 'vigilance' against Iran arms exports  Bloomberg

+ Lieberman: Israel Won’t Attack Iran  Haaretz

+ Iran's President 'would support two-state solution' for Israel   Alex Spillius

+ Iran hunger strike to go on until release: woman's father  AFP

+ 'Iran arms ship bound for Gaza downed near Sudan'   Haaretz

+ Centre-left wins Iceland election   BBC

+ Suicide bombing in Iraq kills up to 28  RAN

+ Peres: China key to struggle against Iran nuclear ambitions   Haaretz

+ Taliban extend hold, advance near Pakistan capital  By ZARAR KHAN

+ Global economy is expected to shrink this year  Jeannine Aversa,

+ Russians worried by global crisis   BBC

+ Obama urges Palestinians and Israel: Step back from the abyss   Natasha Mozgovaya

+ IMF: Losses from global credit crisis mounting  Martin Crutsinger

+ North Korea, Iran Hold U.S. Reporters Hostage, Media Group Says   Michael Heath

+ Google and YouTube bring democracy to Iraq  Emma Woollacott

+ Security developments in Iraq  Reuters

+ Suicide bomber wounds 8 U.S. soldiers in Baqouba  AP

+ Boycotts overshadow start of racism conference  Hui Min Neo

+ Hamas support goes wider  Terry Lacey

+ Iran jails US reporter for eight years: relative  Aresu Eqbali

+ UN to tackle racism at summit  Reuters.

+ Iran to respond soon to powers' talks offer-report  Reutes

+ German firm seeking long-term gas deal with Iran   Wang Guanqun

+ Israel's Peres says no to military option on Iran  AFP

+ Clinton: U.S. has not dropped demands on Iran nuke program  report

+ Diplomats say world powers talking new Iran tack  Matthew Lee

+ Russia Not Supplying Air Defence Systems to Iran  Interfax

+ US - Iran Relation (Poll)  Pollingreport

+ Report: U.S. to drop key condition in Iran nuclear talks   NYTIMES

+ Iran discovers new offshore oil field  AP


Reformer in Iran Publishes Account of a Prison Rape

[25 Aug 2009]   [ MICHAEL SLACKMAN]


August 25, 2009By
CAIRO — A young man arrested after the disputed presidential election in Iran says he was raped by his jailers, then questioned by officials who blamed him for the attack and embarrassed him, according to a statement on the party Web site of an Iranian reform leader, Mehdi Karroubi.
Mr. Karroubi, a former speaker of Parliament and presidential candidate, has defied the nation’s top leaders who have tried, with little success, to discredit and silence charges of rape and torture. But Mr. Karroubi warned that this was only a “fragment” of the evidence he had and that if the denials did not stop, he would release even more.
While the young man was not identified, his charges were graphic and emotional, and documented official indifference — even callousness — toward his account.
“I was in prison, I was blindfolded and my hands were tied,” the young man told Mr. Karroubi. “I was beaten nearly to death, and worse than all of that, they did something to me which even unbelievers and idol worshipers would denounce.”
The conflict over the June 12 presidential election has undermined the legitimacy and credibility of the government and caused deep division in the ranks of the political and clerical elite. But the charges of rape and torture have struck directly at the moral and religious authority the nation’s theocratic leaders claim. The government initially denied Mr. Karroubi’s charges, and the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, said a review had proved they were baseless.
But Mr. Karroubi has refused to back down even as clerics and military leaders aligned with the government have called for his arrest. Faced with public disgust and outrage, the Parliament agreed to review his evidence. A parliamentary committee met with Mr. Karroubi on Monday. One member, Kazem Jalili, told Iranian news agencies that Mr. Karroubi had said that four people told him they had been raped.
For the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mr. Karroubi’s provocative move threatens to add yet another complication as he battles with Parliament over his 21 nominees for his cabinet. It also comes at a difficult time for the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, who by law and faith is supposed to embody one of the central qualities cherished throughout the history of Shiite Islam: justice.
The young man’s account challenges the notion that the state is run by a “just leader.” He said that one day, when Mr. Karroubi was filming their discussion, three government men came to Mr. Karroubi’s office to question him. The young man agreed to go with them to visit a doctor.
On the way, he said, “I asked them why they had done this, why they had treated us like this, what had we done?”
The response was, “When the supreme leader confirmed the election result, everyone should have recognized it.”
The failure to deal comprehensively with these charges — and the unceasing daily revelations of new offenses — has further fueled the crisis.
On Saturday, the first day of Ramadan, dozens of men and women turned up outside the gates of Evin prison in north Tehran to observe iftar, the sunset meal that breaks the daily fast for the holy month of Ramadan. They wanted information about their friends and relatives inside.
On Sunday, the authorities told them no meals were allowed, so the men and women stood before the imposing blue gate with flasks of warm sweet tea and homemade desserts. Then on Monday, more than 150 people showed up, demanding to visit with friends and family inside.
Each day served as another example of people’s willingness to defy the government’s efforts to silence criticism of the government crackdown after the election, which has led to dozens of deaths, thousands of arrests — and now, the continued detention of once-prominent journalists, government officials, academics and protesters.
With each day come new charges of abuse behind the prison walls. On Monday, the wife of Abdollah Momeni told the Green Freedom Wave Web site, associated with the reform leader Mir Hussein Moussavi, that she had not heard from her husband in 20 days, not since she was allowed a brief visit with him in the prison yard. Mr. Momeni is a spokesman for the Iran Alumni Association, a human rights group open to university graduates.
“My husband is under tremendous psychological and physical pressure and torture,” she was quoted as saying.
Mr. Momeni and others were being held at Evin, built by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and expanded by the revolution’s clerical leaders.
Prisoners live in crowded cells with a sink. Showers are three times a week. The prisoners can walk circles for exercise, a few days each week for no more than 30 minutes.
The government has insisted that no one has been abused.
When a former vice president, the usually rotund cleric Muhammad Ali Abtahi, was shown on television during a courtroom appearance — forced to wear pajamas — he appeared gaunt and haggard. This week, a government official said that was not a sign of abuse, but of Mr. Abtahi’s improved health.
“It is only natural for a person who has gained an excessive amount of weight to come to his senses in prison that being overweight is not good for your mental or physical health,” said the official, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, President Ahmadinejad’s adviser for press affairs, according to Iranian news services.
In his statement to Mr. Karroubi, the young man who said he was raped said that in his case, his questioners suggested he was to blame, even asking if he enjoyed the attack. Then they threatened him.
“While we were waiting, the officer told me he didn’t think anyone was capable of such an act and accused me of lying,” the man said. “He asked me if I realized the kind of trouble I would get into if I couldn’t prove the charges.”

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Source: NYTIMES




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